Northern Prefecture Rivers and Mountains

Chapter 381 Treatment

Throughout the entire battle, Liu Daogui felt that the demon bandits were throwing caution to the wind and doing nothing.

Knowing they couldn't win, they still came to fight.

However, after Mao Xiuzhi inspected the demon bandits' supplies, he realized that the demon bandits were on their last legs, with only three or four hundred bushels of food left. With a population of over 100,000, this amount of food would not last more than two days.

They fought their way from Guangzhou to Jiankang, then lingered in Caizhou for several days before being blocked in Danyang County. With nothing left to plunder, no one from the three Wu and eight counties responded.

Many of the bandits were brought here by force, and if there is no food, they will immediately scatter.

Faced with the choice between taking a desperate gamble and running out of supplies and collapsing, Xu Daofu chose the former.

At least taking a gamble offers a sliver of hope.

"13,000 were killed in battle, and more than 91,000 were captured. The rest disappeared in the mountains and marshes." Mao Xiuzhi was more like a scholar than a general.

However, when it came to the battlefield, he was also a fierce general.

Most of the generals from the Western Prefecture were skilled in both literature and military affairs, and came from prestigious families.

Mao Xiuzhi came from the Mao clan of Xingyang, Fu Hongzhi came from Niyang County of Beidi Prefecture, and Wang Zhen'e and Zhu Lin were also from military families.

From these people, we can also glimpse the shadow of the scholars of the Han Dynasty, who could govern the army on horseback and govern the people on foot.

"No other spoils?"

"There are only nine thousand sets of iron armor, nothing else..."

"Didn't the demon thief have a thousand warships?" Liu Daogui clung to his last glimmer of hope.

Mao Xiuzhi looked embarrassed. "General, have you forgotten their desperate measures? The fire burned for three days and three nights, and all we managed to salvage were some ship hulls and coke..."

"Xu Daofu has sent me 100,000 refugees." Liu Daogui was annoyed. This battle was the largest in scale, but it was also the poorest one he had fought.

They gained nothing, but suffered over 5,000 casualties, nearly 4,000 lost warhorses and livestock, not to mention the depletion of arrows.

However, the arrows can be retrieved.

“If the leader of the demon bandits were Xu Daofu, the situation in the world would be very different. It was a matter of timing and fate,” Feng Kai sighed.

The Celestial Masters sect ravaged the land for seven or eight years, harming many people. But everything in the world has two sides, and the Sima clan and the powerful aristocratic families suffered a heavy blow.

If it weren't for the uprising of the Celestial Masters, Liu Yu and Liu Daogui wouldn't have been able to seize military power so easily.

Thinking of this, Liu Daogui's anger and hatred subsided considerably. "These 100,000 prisoners will all be turned into slaves and sent to Yuzhou to cultivate land. The wounded will be treated with all our might. We will also marry the Hu women captured from Qingzhou to them so that they can settle down and take root in the Central Plains."

With Wei abandoning Luoyang and focusing on developing Hebei, the threat to the Central Plains was greatly reduced, allowing them to implement large-scale land reclamation.

Throughout history, Yuzhou has been the granary of China.

Yin Zhongwen took the lead in flattering him, saying, "General, you are benevolent."

Liu Daogui retorted, "This is not benevolence, but rather a means to increase the population and stabilize the Central Plains."

These days, the most scarce resource is manpower, especially young and strong men. In every major battle, men charge ahead, while women are the spoils of war.

There is a situation of more women than men all over the world.

Xu Daofu sent nearly 100,000 able-bodied men, 95% of whom were from Jin, and the rest were Han-assimilated barbarians from the south, which was just enough to fill the Central Plains.

The population structure of the Central Plains had already changed during the Five Barbarian Invasions.

The infighting among the princes of the Sima family caused a decline in the population of Jin people in Hebei and the Central Plains. The Five Hua were in chaos with the Hu people, and a large number of Jin people fled to the south, where the Xiongnu, Dingling, Xianbei and other Hu people poured in.

After eighty or ninety years of reproduction, their population was no less than that of the Jin people.

Conquering the world is easy; governing it is difficult.

Without changing the ethnic structure, the root cause of the unrest remains unresolved.

Liu Daogui did not believe in the idea of ​​"unifying the six kingdoms into one family and regarding barbarians as children," but only believed that those who were not of his race would have different intentions.

Fu Jian had already tried once, resulting in his own death, the destruction of his kingdom, and the extinction of his descendants. The frequent changes of dynasties in the north were essentially a matter of ethnicity.

"In the next few years, we need to focus our attention on the Central Plains. Whoever controls the Central Plains controls the world. If we govern the Central Plains well, Hebei and Guanzhong will be within our grasp in no time."

"Aren't we going to take over Bashu?" Liu Huaijing was still thinking about the fighting and battles.

This is also the thought of most generals; without fighting, their official positions cannot be promoted.

"The demon bandits have been wiped out, but how long can they hold out?" Liu Daogui wasn't very interested in the west.

The Sichuan Basin is no longer the land of abundance it once was; it is now inhabited by the Liao people and is still in a primitive stage of slash-and-burn agriculture.

Previous officials recorded: There were no proper rites or laws regarding marriage; people acted out of lust and had no suitable partners. They did not understand the nature of father and son, nor the way of husband and wife.

It was more difficult to govern than the Central Plains.

The Hu people had lived and multiplied in the Central Plains for eighty or ninety years. The Southern Xiongnu and Wuhuan, who migrated there earlier, had long been accustomed to farming, and even their clothing and language had changed.

Managing businesses in Sichuan and Chongqing requires far more effort than managing those in the Central Plains.

Everything has its priorities.

The most urgent task at present is to restore the vitality of the Central Plains.

Liu Daogui assigned Feng Kai, Yuan Miao, Mao Xiuzhi, Zhu Lin, Liu Yixing, and others to take full responsibility for the relocation of the population.

The General of the Cavalry, though perhaps not particularly adept at other things, excelled at transforming refugees and prisoners of war into farmers. Liu Daogui rose to power by simultaneously farming and fighting.

The integration of farming and warfare is no exaggeration.

Wherever the land is cultivated, that becomes the territory of China.

Just as Liu Daogui was in high spirits, Liu Yixing poured cold water on his enthusiasm, saying, "The three prefectures of Jing and Xiang have also been engaged in continuous battles, and the treasuries are empty. There is not much food left, and it is difficult to feed 100,000 able-bodied men."

Yin Zhongwen said, "Since the beginning of this year, Qiao Zong has joined forces with Yao Xing to invade us. Tuoba Gui has fifteen men stationed in Luoyang. Grain and fodder for Hongnong, Shunyang, Yique, Yidu and other places are all supplied by Jingxiang. Although the land defense has been somewhat successful, the expenses are too many and too complicated..."

Liu Daogui frowned. Indeed, the battle had been raging since last year.

Yao Xing's 10,000 cavalrymen continuously harassed the counties north of the Han River, while Qiao Zong and Huan Qian were also engaged in a protracted struggle in the west.

Now, with nearly 100,000 young adults suddenly flooding in, the pressure is unimaginable.

Even though Jingxiang implemented the land reclamation policy, it would take three years to make a surplus after clearing wasteland and farming.

Even a hero can be brought down by a penny; in times of chaos, grain is more expensive than gold.

“There’s no need to worry about food. This year’s Huai and Si rivers have a bumper harvest, and the grain will be transported from Pengcheng. I’ll submit a memorial to the court and ask for some.” Liu Daogui had an idea in the blink of an eye.

The land in Jiangzuo was cut off earlier than in Jingxiang, and fewer troops were mobilized there, resulting in less food consumption.

Liu Yixing cupped his hands and said, "Many counties in Jingxiang have not yet been recovered. The Central Plains are vast, and I'm afraid the officials will be even more stretched thin."

"Then we should prioritize selecting literate people from the army, then transfer a group of officials from Qingzhou, and then hold an examination every three years to recruit scholars from humble backgrounds."

The fall of the Southern Yan dynasty absorbed a large number of officials. These northern scholars did not have as many problems as the southern gentry. Living under the swords of the Hu people every day, they were all quite capable.

The examination method was not Liu Daogui's invention. The Zhou Dynasty had an assessment system, which held a "grand competition" every three years to examine virtue, skills and talents, and to select the virtuous and capable.

During the Spring and Autumn Period, Guan Zhong of the State of Qi promoted "oral examinations" to select talents through question-and-answer sessions.

During the Han Dynasty, the recommendation system and the examination system were implemented in parallel. After the recommendation system, candidates still had to go through an examination before they could be employed based on their talents. Zuo Xiong of the Eastern Han Dynasty established the method of the filial piety and incorruptibility examination: students were tested on their family traditions, and clerks were tested on their memorials.

However, even the best system cannot withstand corruption. After the aristocratic families grew stronger, the system of recommending filial and incorruptible officials was ruined, and hereditary privilege became the norm.

During the Jin Dynasty, the polarization intensified, resulting in both honest and corrupt officials.

Liu Daogui made the final decision: "Now that the country is newly established, we should employ people without being bound by convention. From now on, all those under my rule, regardless of their background or social status, as long as they are citizens of China, can take the exam!"

(End of this chapter)